and joy.
That is what comes to my mind immediately. Then, mashed potatoes and homemade chocolate pudding.
Comfort (Wiktionary)
a contentment, or ease
a consolation, something relieving suffering or worry
a cause of relief or satisfaction.
We all receive comfort from many common areas then we branch out, go our own way and fine tune what brings us the comfort we so desperately seek. We seek comfort in the good and bad times, in want or in plenty and we seek it often.
As my thoughts about comfort would indicate, comfort to me is about the good things. The things that bring happiness and good will but I think there is a dark side to comfort. One, most of us would rather not think about.
My experience tells me there is a kind of comfort where rational thinking flies out the window. It is a place where bad feels good because it is better than the unknown. A place where comfort hugs itself to the ground and won't let go. Where the idea that this false comfort, it better than seeking out true comfort. I know that feeling and I know how real it feels.
We hear Story after Story about kids begging to go back to dysfunctional homes. Wives going back to homes where they are physically assaulted - men too. Hard to believe there could be contentment, ease or comfort in those kinds of situations but there is and we humans continue, like the songs says, Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places.
If it doesn't make sense, it's not true... Good old Judge Judy. If we could use that philosophy in our lives more often, how would it change what we believe? what we do? How we act and respond?
I am a lucky woman. I have a better handle on comfort now. It looks like cozy slippers and hot chocolate. I am not longer willing to invest in false comfort - life is too short and the stakes are too big...
